Jeff and Emily first met through their mutual friend, Maxwell Mianecki. Unfortunately, neither of them can remember the exact meeting, just that it was at Maxwell‘s house during one of his video game parties. It must’ve been sometime in 2005, when Emily first became friends with Maxwell in high school. What they can remember is that they both loved to play the cooperative video game, Super Smash Brothers Melee, and first bonded over that.

On June 3rd, 2015, Jeff made a post on his Facebook about wanting to see the movie Jurassic World. Emily commented on his post that she wanted to see it, too. He private messaged her asking if she would like to see it with him. She agreed. He also invited her to dinner at bd’s Mongolian BBQ before the movie. They talked about mutual interests over dinner, and had a great time watching the movie. He asked if she wanted to hang out again and she said sure. Emily being the shy nerd she was had no idea at the time that this was actually considered a date. Her best friend Ashley Sweitzer literally had to spell it out for her afterward for her to realize it!

Funny enough, they originally agreed they were going to watch Avengers: Age of Ultron but had heard bad reviews about the movie so they went and saw Jurassic World AGAIN instead, this time in 3D! They had a great time and agreed to meet for a third time, this time at Jeff’s house for a homemade dinner. Emily was more prepared this time, as far as knowing these were dates, and she knew she was very much interested in him at this point.

Jeff made country ribs for dinner, and Emily brought a strawberry kiwi cake she had made for dessert. Emily distinctly remembers as they were finishing the meal, Jeff casually asks her, “So, do you think we can now consider ourselves boyfriend and girlfriend?” And without hesitation she responded “Yes, I think that’s fair to say.” After dinner, they watched Jurassic Park: The Lost World on his couch and as the credits were rolling, Jeff leaned over and initiated their first kiss. For Emily personally, it was her very first kiss ever and it was as memorable and lovely as any storybook romance says it can be!

Emily and Jeff have been together ever since then. It’s been 10 years, 4 months and 6 days! In all that time, they’ve gone on so many trips and made so many wonderful memories together. On May 3, 2025 their daughter Kathleen was born to make them a family of 3!